I ran one 2000 Honda in my earlier pickup camper but with air conditioning I had to buy a second and wire them together. Ran them to power part of my house when we had a tornado the took out the power in our little town for 8 days. They have been working part time for 20 years. Carry one now in my 37 Foot Winnebago Motor Home and have it for backup. The new air conditioners can be equiped with a soft start and run on one 2000 watt unit. Yamaha may be as good but why take a chance for about the sam money. Such a good product.
Time for a new genny… Honda or Yamaha?
- Thread starter urbanhillbilly
- Start date
AKcaveman
Member
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2011
- Messages
- 79
- Reaction score
- 5
I run 2 Honda 2000 gens for my Bigfoot Travel Trailer the fit nice in front storage and with soft start running my air conditioner no problem! I also have the fuel cap extended fuel lines to a 12 gallon boat fuel tank, they can run for days on end with this upgrade! I also have the magnetic oil plug that catches any steel metal chips in the oil as this is the one thing to watch for in the Honda gens. I also have the oil drain tube for mess free oil changes! I boondock a lot out hunting and fishing with this setup and had the Yamaha before they are very good but with what I can do to upgrade the Honda and smaller size to fit in front trailer storage it is the winner for me!
I have two Honda EU2000i generators that are 12 to 15 years old with low hours. I can wire them together and I have an external tank, that works great.
Maybe a little off topic but, at extreme low temperatures the generators start running very lean (because cold air is more dense?). I was hunting in the Central area at -25F when in the middle of the night the temperature started to drop. At -30F I woke up because the EU2000i started to run rough. Over the next couple hours, I could not get back to sleep as the generator got so bad that it completely quit somewhere between -35F and -40F. Eventually I figured out that the generator was running too lean, and I could get it running again (and keep it running) by manually adjusting the choke on the carburetor to about the half-choke position.
I don't know if the newer Hondas have fixed this issue, I was just happy to find a workaround. After that trip I checked the spark plug to make sure it wasn't getting fouled, and the plug looked good.
Now, I try not to go out and rely on a generator when it is that cold, but I do still use the generators for emergency backup power at my house in Fairbanks.
Maybe a little off topic but, at extreme low temperatures the generators start running very lean (because cold air is more dense?). I was hunting in the Central area at -25F when in the middle of the night the temperature started to drop. At -30F I woke up because the EU2000i started to run rough. Over the next couple hours, I could not get back to sleep as the generator got so bad that it completely quit somewhere between -35F and -40F. Eventually I figured out that the generator was running too lean, and I could get it running again (and keep it running) by manually adjusting the choke on the carburetor to about the half-choke position.
I don't know if the newer Hondas have fixed this issue, I was just happy to find a workaround. After that trip I checked the spark plug to make sure it wasn't getting fouled, and the plug looked good.
Now, I try not to go out and rely on a generator when it is that cold, but I do still use the generators for emergency backup power at my house in Fairbanks.
AKcaveman
Member
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2011
- Messages
- 79
- Reaction score
- 5
The issue was your intake was freezing up which is a common problem with my Honda generators also in cold weather! I am working on making a foam intake air mixing box to use exhaust mufflers heat to pre heat the cold intake air as the generators are running! I don’t need them to run over night just long enough to charge batteries and run any AC appliances in my Bigfoot travel trailer or to plug my diesel truck in to pre heat it!
I haven't looked at the issue any closer than described above, but I would think if the intake was "freezing up" the issue would have been worse when the choke was applied.
I would be interested in seeing any preheat options you do come up with, it might be a better fix. I still hope to use the Hondas at my house when it is very cold. 95% of the power outages are handled just fine by the Honda(s).
I now have a Generac XT8500EFI I purchased at Costco ($800 on sale, it was less than a Honda). If there is a long outage it might be nice to have a little more power to run the water pump, boiler, microwave and refrigeration at the same time without worrying about overloading the Hondas. Can't have too many generators.
I have not tried the Generac when it was cold outside.
The generators with an Electronic Fuel Injection fuel pump must have a good battery or they won't start, no matter how hard you pull on them.
As a side note, I was only relying on the generator for comfort, not survival. The generator was mainly used to keep the propane tank warm. I now take a wood burning stove.
We were hunting caribou on snowmachines. Wow, the snowmachines are hard to start at those temperatures.
iofthetaiga
Well-known member
The quick and easy low tech solution to carb icing is a cardboard box inverted over the generator, with a short exhaust extension sleeved onto the the muffler's exhaust stub and protruded through the side of the box.
Mine gets finicky when it gets real cold too. I have done something like ^^^ too, and it helped. I also found out that I have to warm up my honda when it's pretty cold out before it will start or once I'm camping I have to keep it warm inside so it will start in the morning. I really like my eu2000i but it isn't a great cold weather generator.
Thanks, I was thinking about something like this to help make the generator quieter. It would clearly have the added benefit of keeping the generator warmer and preheating the intake air.
Makes it a lot quieter too!
The German
Active member
Ok,,,, FWIW, here is my package, with Manual-TS, and I've also made some modifications to the in-take air metal screens, and the Top-Mounted Exhaust Fan, so as to mitigate blowing-snow ingestion, our last BIG-Event, last yrs Big-Winds here in the Valley, and I mean BIG-Winds for our location,,,, ie... we look down on the Elks Lodge at Finger Lake..... 
Yea, 77hrs straight running time.....
TG
Yea, 77hrs straight running time.....TG
Attachments
After, you know the generator will not be a problem.
What about the batteries? They loose power when cold (50% loss @ 0*f).
Not all battery chargers are design to charge at low temperatures or the low temp. operating range is around 0*f. Stopping the charger from charging the battery
Do you carry high current jumper cable? To start a diesel trucks. If you have a diesel truck you may need them.
What about the batteries? They loose power when cold (50% loss @ 0*f).
Not all battery chargers are design to charge at low temperatures or the low temp. operating range is around 0*f. Stopping the charger from charging the battery
Do you carry high current jumper cable? To start a diesel trucks. If you have a diesel truck you may need them.
The German
Active member
Ok then,,,,,, as per your comment above, I've got that covered, and then some.....
TG
Attachments
Might want to take a look at Cummins/Onan unit. I bought one last year for the new year windstorm and power loss. Could not find a Honda anywhere at the time. 2500 peak, 2200 running watts. Its got inverter, 12 volt plug, battery charger, plus either 1 or 2 usb ports.
I only have about 50 hours on it so far, but its all good.
I only have about 50 hours on it so far, but its all good.
bottom_dweller
Active member
Urbanhillbilly- I hope you have made a decision by now. 🙄
urbanhillbilly
Active member
I ended up with the budget Firman. It’s been great and reliable so far. I do think the Honda would have been the better choice, but budget is key for me. Firman was half the cost of the Honda.
Good on you for finding something that fits your needs without busting the bank.
These Honda's do not like the cold weather, usually happens to me around -5. Honda unfortunately knows this and they sell cold weather kit that is suppose to fix the problem. The link below does a good job of describing the issue.
www.babbittshondageneratorhouse.com
I have the means to just bring mine in and warm it up. If you do this you need to change the oil more often than normal.
These Honda's do not like the cold weather, usually happens to me around -5. Honda unfortunately knows this and they sell cold weather kit that is suppose to fix the problem. The link below does a good job of describing the issue.
Cold Weather Kits : Babbitts Honda Generator House
www.babbittshondageneratorhouse.com
I have the means to just bring mine in and warm it up. If you do this you need to change the oil more often than normal.
DRIFTER_016
Well-known member
I have a 2kw Yamaha that has close to 10,000 hours on it now.
It burns some oil but still works even now.
But I did order a new generator. It's a 7.2kw and it's built into my new F-150 Hybrid.
Don't need to worry about having to cart around an external genny now. LOL
It burns some oil but still works even now.
But I did order a new generator. It's a 7.2kw and it's built into my new F-150 Hybrid.
Don't need to worry about having to cart around an external genny now. LOL
urbanhillbilly
Active member
Those inboard generators are pretty slick, I know someone who has one in their F150 also. Very cool
